I love and loathe end of year list making in equal measure. I love it because there are SO MANY great films and I get to spend many hours reminiscing about all the fantastic art I have seen on-screen over the last 12 months. I loathe it because there are SO MANY great films, and its painful to narrow my favourites down to an arbitrary number. Anyone who says it has been a bad year for film, or the even worse “film is dead”, is just not really trying. This year I went for 20 films with 15 honourable mentions. These 20 stuck above the rest for various reasons – they amused, delighted, shocked, challenged, and wowed me.

My favourite 20: 1 of the films is the only film I saw twice at the cinema this year; 6 are directed by women; 2 are directed by the same director; 2 are animated; 1 is a documentary; Adam Driver, Jeff Bridges, Michael Shannon, Samuel L Jackson, and Joel Edgerton all appear in 2 of the films each; and 7 of the films I saw for the first time at the 2016 Sydney film festival.

I have been more privileged than normal with the sheer number of films I have been able to see this year. I ventured across the world to attend the Toronto Film Festival, and made an effort to see at least one film at each of the festivals that run in Australia. It has been a terrific year, and I think what is notable is the incredible depth of excellent films.

What a year. After the jump are my 25 favourite films from 2014. These are a mix of 2013/2014/2015 releases – all of which I saw for the first time in 2014. 25 might seem too many, but even that was hard. Check them out after the jump and be sure to let me know what you think.

It has been an incredible year for Australian and New Zealand film, one of the best in recent memory. Not only has there been a lot of it, but it has been good. From world horror hit The Babadook to Cannes award-winner Charlies Country and Rialto New Zealand Film Award winner The Dark Horse, this is a year we can be really proud of local cinema. Whether you see it at the cinema, rent it on VOD or hire it on Blu-ray, good quality local cinema is more accessible than ever. Andrew and I pick our top 10 Australian & New Zealand films after the jump.Continue reading »

Music maketh the film, well that’s what I think anyway. A fantastic score, an interesting soundtrack, a scene that uses music so well that you can’t stop thinking about – these are all things that can make a good film great, and a great film something altogether wonderful. Andrew and I have put together a collection of our favourite music in 2014 film. We’ve each picked out favourite score, favourite soundtrack and favourite use of music in an individual scene. Check them out after the jump.

A completely subjective list of films that I really didn’t enjoy in 2014. They’re a mix of cinema releases, direct-to-VOD and festival flicks. Some of these are comedies that weren’t funny; some were indie/low-budget films with no substance; and others just really, really offended me. Check out the list after the jump.